Bieber, a longtime support of Lorenzo and his work, had reached out to commission the effort. It was later revealed that designer Jerry Lorenzo, of Fear of God fame, was behind the collection and hired Riddick to help out. Selling at a pop up with NYC underground fashion hub VFiles, the Bieber merch wasn’t exactly what we had come to expect from a pop megastar. Sure, there are still some cheesy photo t-shirts, but for the most part the singer had completely embraced a new, aesthetic that seemed inspired by anarchic design collective Vetements (who themselves paid tribute to him in their last collection). When Bieber and his camp officially unveiled the merchandise for his Purpose world tour last month, the teen-icon merchandising cliches were gone, and in their place were bold fonts, vintage-looking patches and a menacing logo. Little did Riddick know that a few months later he’d get yet another call to work outside of his usual realm – this time, for Justin Bieber. Perez declined a request to comment for this story, citing that he wasn’t allowed to give interviews, but Riddick sung his praises, recalling how the art director showed a genuine interest in his work by purchasing an original framed illustration and a copy of his book. The request seemed right up Riddick’s alley, as he has been creating menacing artwork for extreme metal bands such as Morbid Angel, Rotting Christ and Exodus since 1991. The artist went on to explain how DONDA art director Joe Perez had reached out to him to create a “skeletal ‘King’ playing card” – and that he had no idea how the illustration he delivered was being used until he saw the official release. “I don’t know anything about hip-hop or current popular music so I had to ask my colleagues who Pusha T was,” confessed Riddick. “I’d rather someone who knows about metal create something like this than someone who is completely removed from the genre” – Mark Riddick, the metal artist behind Justin Bieber’s Purpose merch The artist tapped illustrator Mark Riddick, a huge creative force within the death and black metal scenes, to bring his signature style to his Darkest Before Dawn tour gear. It didn’t end with West – the very next year, his collaborator Heron Preston (of #BEENTRILL fame) released t-shirt he designed with the two surefire signs of extreme metal merch: a nearly illegible logo and ‘Pale Horse’ biblical imagery.įast forward to 2016, DONDA looked to dive further into the world of underground music for West’s signee Pusha T. The 90s heyday of flannel and cheap, ripped denim has been replaced by draping yourself in luxe distressed goods, with a whole new generation of style-aspiring dudes, including the likes of Justin Bieber and Zayn Malik, having jumped in on the trend within the past year. Since the Yeezus tour, West has undeniably ushered in a new era of grungy style.
Regardless of your opinion of Kanye and his circle, it’s near impossible to deny the impact throughout all levels of fashion (look at the way blackletter fonts have surged in popularity after West debuted the Cali Thornhill DeWitt designed merch for his latest album). Also, with a little help from his super famous family, those Yeezus t-shirts were everywhere. While it was somewhat groundbreaking for a mainstream rapper to adopt that aesthetic, West respects art – and Lang is a reasonably established name within the art world, with some of his work having been collected by MoMA. The designs – featuring menacing skulls, grim reapers and bold logos – were strongly reminiscent of tour merch from the days of late 80s metal. Or, like a lot of recent trends in fashion, it could possibly be traced back to influence of Kanye West and company.īack in 2013, West (under his DONDA alias) commissioned artist Wes Lang to create a number of graphics for his Yeezus Tour. It could be that this is the age of Tumblr, where every niche subset of culture is cataloged and can be thrown on a moodboard with a click of the mouse. It could be the emerging generation of designers who grew up with knowledge of the metal scene. There could be a number of reasons to explain the shift. Now, graphics and imagery are showing up everywhere from the buzzy French label Vetements to the merch of tween-idol-turned-style-icon Justin Bieber. (Remember that time H&M sold fake band t-shirts, and someone made websites for them that suggested they were neo-Nazi groups?) Still, up until recently, heavy metal’s influence on fashion was mostly recognisable in the form of tattered clothing or ripped jeans. Of course, the industry has a long and complicated relationship with pulling inspiration from underground culture – with everyone from independent brands to household-name high fashion labels having dipped their toes in the seas of subculture.
Look at any street style roundup and it’s hard to miss: the gritty aesthetic of heavy metal has found a new home in the world of fashion.
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